Latest California Healthline Stories
Analysis: Obama’s Plan To Cut Debt ‘Falls Short’ of Other Savings Plans
An analysis by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget finds that President Obama’s deficit-reduction strategy “falls short” of targets set by the GOP and by the administration’s bipartisan fiscal commission. Washington Post et al.
Editorial Calls for Increased Oversight of IHSS Program
A San Diego Union-Tribune editorial argues that “because the county has so few people tracking [the In-Home Supportive Services] program’s caregivers and patients, billing amounts to an honor system.” It adds, “This should not be the status quo for a program that cost $305 million in 2009-2010.” The editorial concludes that county leaders should take a recent report from the San Diego County grand jury on the program “seriously and work with state lawmakers to improve oversight.” San Diego Union-Tribune.
CMS Releases Proposed Rule on Inpatient Care Payments
On Tuesday, CMS released its proposed inpatient prospective payment system rule for fiscal year 2012. In the proposed rule, the agency said it expects acute care hospitals to see Medicare payments for inpatient services decline by about 0.5%, or roughly $498 million, compared with 2011 levels. CMS also projected that payments to long-term acute care hospitals would increase by 1.9%, or about $95 million. Modern Healthcare.
Republicans Question Effort To Expand MA Plan Bonuses
A provision in the federal health reform law that would expand quality bonus payments to lower-scoring insurers in the Medicare Advantage program has drawn skepticism from two leading Republicans in Congress. In a joint letter to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Senate Finance Committee ranking member Orrin Hatch and House Ways and Means Committee Chair Dave Camp questioned whether the administration’s support for MA bonuses could represent “a thinly veiled use of taxpayer dollars for political purposes.” AP/San Francisco Chronicle.
Schwarzenegger: Do Not Try To Adjust Clean Air Act
“I love the Clean Air Act,” which was signed into law by President Nixon in 1970 and is “one of the most successful laws in American history,” former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger writes in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece. The act “has made our air dramatically cleaner, saved hundreds of thousands of lives, and substantially boosted our economy,” he writes. However, “[s]ince January, there have been more than a dozen proposals in Congress to limit enforcement of clean-air rules, create special-interest loopholes and attempt to reverse scientific findings,” Schwarzenegger notes, adding, “Congress should not substitute political calculations for scientific and medical facts.” Wall Street Journal.
Report: State Soda Tax Would Raise $1.7B To Fight Childhood Obesity
A report by the California Center for Public Health Advocacy finds that a proposed state tax on sweetened beverages could generate $1.7 billion annually for obesity prevention programs. The tax is part of a bill proposed by Assembly member Bill Monning. Contra Costa Times et al.
Obama Visits California To Drum Up Support for Deficit-Reduction Plan
During yesterday’s meeting at Facebook’s headquarters in Palo Alto, President Obama called the GOP FY 2012 budget plan’s changes to Medicare and Medicaid “radical.” Obama said his deficit-reduction plan would preserve the programs. Washington Post et al.
Nine Calif. Hospitals See Major Drop in Sepsis Mortality Rates
Nine San Francisco Bay Area hospitals recently reported that their sepsis mortality rates declined by an average of 40% during the two years that they participated in a UC-San Francisco program aimed at combating the blood infection. San Francisco Chronicle.
California Health Insurance Exchange Board Begins Work
On Wednesday, the California Health Benefit Exchange board convened its first meeting. When the state’s insurance exchange is in place by 2014, an estimated four million Californians are expected to use it to find health care coverage. Bay Citizen, KQED’s “The California Report.”
State Data Show Uptick in C-Section Rates, Drop in Cardiac Procedures
According to data from the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development, the rate of caesarean sections at California hospitals has increased slightly since 2005. The data also show that the number of certain cardiac procedures has declined. Payers & Providers.